Dormant (Discontinued)
by StandAlone86
Summary: A dormant quirk. Or perhaps hidden? Left unknown to the one who needed it most. In times of struggle, who will hold you back, and who will push you over the edge? In a story of heartache, romance, and even humour, who will you trust, and who will you push away?
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.**

 **Normally I'd give an introduction to the story, just what to expect. But... not this time. All I can say is expect some heavy topics early on. Things will get better, humour will come later, but for now, this little prologue is only the beginning.**

 **~0~0~**

A few strands of green hair were pushed into the young man's face. The rest of the unruly set whipped behind his head as the bitter night air stabbed at his face. He didn't know why he was there. He didn't know why he waited.

 _I'm worthless..._

With a sigh he shed his jacket, exposing his arms to the thousands of frozen knives waiting to pierce his pale skin. He did not react. The cold meant nothing to him at this point. Nothing did.

 _Why am I alive..._

He strained his neck, twisting, listening to the satisfying clicks and cracks that followed the slow, torturous movement. Still it meant nothing. What could?

 _He said it himself... it's hopeless..._

He stretched his legs behind him, wedging his foot into the rail and slipping his foot cleanly out of his unlaced sneakers. They met with his jacket on the floor.

 _I'm hopeless..._

He pushed the few strands from his eye, welcoming the night's unending sting with open arms.

 _I'm nobody..._

Behind closed eyelids, he watched, emotionless, at the boy he once foolishly considered a friend. At the man that led that despicable group. At the bastard that broke him, laughed at him, and ultimately led him here tonight.

 _A quirkless nobody..._

He watched, expressionless, at the one man he looked up to, who deflated before him, who spoke the truth. The truth he had denied for so many years.

 _How could a nobody expect to ever be a somebody?_

He watched his idol as he fixed the last piece of the jigsaw into place. The killing blow.

 _I really am an idiot..._

He opened his eyes to the harsh world around him, to the note behind him and the river before and beneath him.

 _I'm going to die here... as I should have a long time ago..._

His mouth stretched into a maniacal grin. His body shook, his soft chuckles dissapearing into the stream below him. And he spoke. "The impact may not kill me, but my spine will shatter! I will drown here!"

He laughed, his voice finally reaching his ears and echoing across the desolate bridge. It was better this way. Nobody to bear witness.

 _I hope you're happy, Kacchan... I hope you meet a lovely girl. Get married, have children. And I hope they each die. Painfully. Maybe then you'll feel the extent of your actions..._

And with arms outstretched, bloodshot eyes and a wicked smile plastered across his face, Izuku Midoriya stepped forward.

 **~0~0~**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.**

 **I took a bit to think about where to start this chapter and thank fuck I did. I'm happy with this, and you should be too... maybe.**

 **~0~0~**

The cold grew colder. The wind grew faster. The anticipation grew stronger. With each passing second feeling like an eternity behind closed eyelids, Izuku Midoriya opened his eyes in greeting to the oncoming rapids.

His eyes grew sharper. His grin grew wider. His laugh grew louder. The wind, sharp as ever, stabbed at his eyes, desperately attempting to force them shut, but forever unable to hold back the images that swam through his mind.

Behind his teary eyes, he sees his blonde 'friend' grow shocked, scared. He sees his teachers falsify tears at his 'lost potential'. He sees his mother, stricken with grief, collapse to the floor before the police officer at the door.

And he finally, truly, opens his eyes.

 _Oh god... what have I done?_

And the river's gaping jaws swallow him whole.

 **~0~0~**

And he lifts his head, staring, as the water, an unnatural purple tint to it, stills beneath his palms. His body collides with the static rapids in a twisted, tangled mess, knees below feet and arms spread eagle.

Lurching at the expected pain, Izuku finds himself standing on both feet, pins and needles shooting through his body like fireflies in the moonlight, but not a shred of pain could be felt. His arms remained connected to his shoulders, his feet remained stable beneath his weight, and despite seeing a slight purple over everything, his head seemed undamaged and perfectly attached to his neck.

 _So what..._

And his green head lands among the similarly shaded river bank, the purple draining out of the world as his weary, glazed eyes close over.

 **~0~0~**

Bare feet dragged across the pavement, heavy as bricks and aching from the excessive use. The wind strengthened still, pushing against the weary teen in an attempt to block his progress to a nice, warm bed.

Izuku grunted, achingly holding his bag before him as a shield against the wind's horrendous onslaught. He trudged forward at a progressively slower pace, the shoes hanging from the bag threatening to fly back and kick him in the leg. He wasn't sure if he could bear such a miniscule impact at this point, and wasn't willing to find out, quickening his pace as best he could towards the seemingly distant door.

With great effort he pushed himself against the door, finding it locked but unable to find the energy to reach for his keys, instead knocking his head against the door in hopes the person on the other side heard. His prayers were answered as an audible _click_ sounded from behind the door, leading into the door slowly opening, the green haired woman peering out.

With a start Inko shoved the door open, dropping to her knees beside the hunched form of her waterlogged son.

"Izuku! What happened to you? Are you alright?"

Her voice was laced with concern, afraid of what answer could possibly come from the drowned rat at her front door. Instead of speaking, instead of walking into his home, Izuku just stood there and cried.

 **~0~0~**

 **A.N.**

 **Next chapter's gonna focus on the events leading up, as they do differ from the anime quite notably.**

 **Reviews are always welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N.**

 **It's taking a while to write these chapters, I know. A combination of laziness and a few decisions still to make. There's something I wanna introduce into Deku's character and I'm still juggling ideas on how to integrate it. This is still the happy yet determined little bitch boy Deku from the start of the anime, after all, and this little idea will most definitely cause some contrast with that, as well as going forward, but we'll see.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~0~0~**

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special news repo-" _Click._

"-taken place at the-" _Click._

"-pair of shoes was found left beside the raili-" _Click._

"-a note was found beneath the heel of the right sh-" _Click._

"I fucking get it!" the blonde delinquent shouted at his TV, earning an unappreciative shout from upstairs from his damn parents. "Some kid jumped off the fucking bridge! Big fucking deal!"

Katsuki Bakugou had been calmly enjoying the highlight of his day; his parents finally asleep upstairs, all lights off save for the dimmed lamp beside the couch, all leaving him alone with his thoughts and favourite show. The last thing he needed was his daily dose of hilarious stunt fails to be ruined by another person's drama.

Clicking through more channels in hopes of finding something other than the damn suicide, Katsuki's attention was locked by one particular station, revealing a head of green hair atop a pale, freckled face at the top left of the screen.

"He fucking didn't..."

"-it is important to note, however, that the body has not be-" _Click._

Katsuki retired to his room for the night, shedding his shirt and pulling the sheets back from his bed, knowing despite this that he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

 **~0~0~**

A few days had passed before Izuku could finally face his mum again, but as he dragged himself towards the living room to meet with her, doubts continued to swirl throughout his clouded mind. He knew she knew. How could she not? From his darkened room he would hear the news every night. He had somehow managed to pull himself from the river, but like an idiot walked away with his bag but neither his jacket nor shoes, let alone the note he so diligently signed and placed beneath the heel. His whole school undoubtedly knew, and were probably celebrating too, and he knew he could walk through those gates with head held high and show them he was still standing. So why couldn't the same be said for the one other person in his home?

He paused at the door frame, staring at the back of the woman in the kitchen, unable to form a single word, let alone a full sentance. Eventually Inko felt eyes on her. Turning to face her son, she laid her knife flat on the cutting board. Dinner could wait.

"How are you feeling, honey?" she asked sweetly, carefully, refusing any fear of the answer to break her soft smile.

"Just..." Izuku's head dropped, eyes landing at his feet, "tired, is all. Physically, and... emotionally."

Inko caught the shake of his body from across the room. Allowing worry to enter her features, she took a step towards her son. And another. When he showed no signs of running away, she closed the gap, wrapping arms around his still body. She knew. From the news reports to the faded marks on his arms, she knew. But none of that mattered. Not to her. Not now. All she could bring herself to care about was the broken, sobbing child she held in her arms.

"I..." he finally choked out, wiping at his eyes. "I have to tell you something."

Inko remained quiet, giving him time to formulate his words. She wouldn't dare rush him.

"I think... I think I have a quirk."

 **~0~0~**

"Are you sure you have to go, Izuku?"

"Yes, mum."

"But what if they keep bullying you more? After the incident last week..."

"If I can't hold my head high around a couple of middle school bullies, how could I possibly think of becoming a hero?"

"You don't have to do this. I can call the school, tell them you're alive but-"

"Mum. No. It's more than what you think, okay? I'm not doing this for them, nor am I doing this for even you. I'm doing this for myself."

For the first time in almost a week, Izuku finally looked his mother dead in the eye, unbridled determination guiding his words. He had to do this.

"I'm doing this for myself. I've been pushed as far as possible, where there is no hope of coming back. Yet I'm still standing. I can't live with myself if I don't show them once and for all that, after so long, their words finally mean nothing to me, that I am better than they think I am and that for once, I'm the one to come out on top!"

His voice escalated, booming with newfound confidence after finally vocalising his thoughts and ideals. Instead of worry, Inko's face shifted into a wide smile, eyes brimming with pride at the man her son is becoming.

"Then show them that. I won't hold you back."

Izuku's smile grew at his mother's words of encouragement. Holding back the sting in his eyes, he nodded once, turning towards the door with a deep exhale. Today was the day things went his way.

"I'll return home first thing, okay?"

"Okay. I love you, son."

He grinned. "I love you too."

Pulling his hood up, Izuku stepped out of his home and into the new day.

 **~0~0~**


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N.**

 **So real quick. Here we're gonna get into the events leading up to the story. It's kinda expected you know what happens, as this is a retelling of the specific moments, not the whole thing. Then we'll move on to Deku's return to school!**

 **I wanna pick up the pace on this a little bit, so I don't end up writing 50 chapters before we even get into UA. As a result, chapters should start getting a bit longer, starting with this one. Just so you're aware.**

 **~0~0~**

 _"Damn it, Deku!" a particularly angry blonde shouted, sparks flying from his hands. "You really think you stand any chance of getting into UA?"_

 _He approached his green hair victim, slamming his open palm against the wall directly beside his head, causing spiderwebs to string out from the impact of his explosion._

 _"Not only am I gonna be the first student from this trash heap of a school to get into UA, not only am I gonna be the only one of our grade, but I will also be the only one to even fucking try. Why try when you know you can't win? You're nothing! Little quirkless Izuku really thinks he stands a chance! Ha!"_

 _Izuku closed his hand into a fist, anger seething through his teeth as he tried to maintain a calm, though fragile, mindset. Slowly, he brought his hand up, pushing against his assailant with barely a punch. While the impact was lighter than a feather to Katsuki, the implications behind it sent a tidal wave of both shock and yet more rage crashing through his system._

 _"Maybe not, Kacchan," Izuku finally spoke, voice trembling with fear, yet still laced with clear determination, "but that doesn't mean I can't try, right? I've always wanted to be a hero, and being quirkless isn't going to nullify that dream. I may lose, horribly, but at least I'll try hard enough to lose."_

 _Izuku finally raised his tear tracked face to stare intently at his bully, only for the determination to quickly vanish as he saw the blonde's hand raise, sparking, poised to strike._

 _Izuku reacted purely on instinct, diving to the side in just enough time to avoid Katsuki's swinging fist, but not in enough time to avoid the radius of the following blast, which sent him crashing back into the wall._

 _"You really know how to piss me off, Deku..."_

 _The threat came out in a low growl, animalistic, filled only with pure rage. Like hell some nobody was getting away with thinking about contending with the living bomb. Not if he had anything to say about it._

 _Striding forward to the pathetic mass at his feet, he was almost tempted to just leave him. Almost. Katsuki didn't let people off that easily, even the weak ones that didn't deserve his time._

 _He grasped at Izuku's collar, lifting him from the ground with ease before throwing him forward again, toying with his prey._

 _"You choose to stand toe-to-toe with me yet you still can't stand? Pathetic runts like you aren't worth my time. Luckily for you, I'm in a particularly good mood seeing you like this, so I'm willing to impart on you some knowledge."_

 _He kneeled over the limp form of his once friend, marvelling at his handiwork._

 _"If you really wanna be a hero so badly, there is still one option left, ya know? You may be nothing now, but maybe you'll have something to write home about in your next life. Why wait when you can speed up the process and just throw yourself into the river!"_

 _Having said his piece, he patted his victim on the arm twice, with a series of smaller explosions, before standing up and walking towards his little gang, the two grinning maniacally at the show that was put on._

 _As the two sheep littered Katsuki with praises for his fine work, not one noticed the green hair that had risen from the ground, a beaten and singed boy in its wake. His eyes no more held the determination, nor even hatred towards his bully. They were left blank, broken like his bag, jacket, and dreams._

 _"Maybe I will."_

 _Katsuki and his followers looked back at the broken boy before them. At first, they thought he was being a smart ass, and both followers waited anxiously for Katsuki to put him back in his place. That was until they saw what had already drawn their leader's eyes. A series of marks, some brighter than others, methodically drawn down the arm, shown visible within the jacket sleeve that had now been blown open. It was clear through one of the open flaps that one of them was "today" fresh, a thin line of red slowly drying against the underside of the jacket._

 _Instead of pulling out one of his famous half-assed remarks, or even a freshly-baked insult, Katsuki Bakugou, and his two fan boys, could only stare at Izuku Midoriya as he slowly turned away, head down, and walked down the hallway._

 **~0~0~**

 _"Ah! You'll make a perfect meat suit, kid!Just hold still, the pain will only last a moment!"_

 _Izuku could've struggled to breathe, fought back against the liquid monster in some form, but despite the possibilites flying through his head, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Before fear could even take place, all he felt was emptiness. Why bother fighting when he knew he couldn't win?_

 _"Ah, a pushover type! Just the way I like it! Thanks, kid! You've been a real help! A real hero to me!"_

Hero...

 _..._

 _Izuku found himself woken by a repeated force against his face. Opening his eyes, he was certainly surprised to findd his idol standing above him._

 _"A-All Might?!" He nearly jumped back, crawled away from him at high speed, but somehow could not muster up the energy to do it._

 _"In the flesh! But I'm not the important one here! Are you okay, young man?"_

 _"Um... yeah, well... not really..."_

 _"Ah, but who would be after an encounter with a villain! Good thing I was close by before things got really out of hand!"_

 _"A-All Might...?"_

 _"Yes, young man?"_

 _This was it. The moment of truth. Izuku's idol stood towering above him, having just saved him from a villain. It was clear the man had to leave, yet Izuku couldn't bring himself to let the opportunity slip. Not after today._

 _"All Might, I was wondering..." he breathed in. Tears threatened his eyes and his lungs burned, but he couldn't waver. "I was wondering if it was at all possible for someone quirkless... someone like me... become a hero?"_

 _..._

 _A moment of silence passed between the two. In that brief moment, Izuku knew the truth immediately. It was so stupid of him to ask, yet he needed to know. Deep down he knew, but couldn't bring himself to face the truth. Until now._

 _It was evident from the sweat on All Might's brow that he was right. The quirkless could never be heroes._

 _Worthless, quirkless Deku._

 _"I-of course!" All Might exclaimed suddenly. "Anyone can be a hero, as long as they set their mind to it and truly want it!"_

 _"And yet I couldn't even bring myself to try and fight off that monster."_

 _"I'm sure you were just in shock!"_

 _All Might was sweating profusely despite his attempts at words of encouragement. He knew he didn't have much time and couldn't let the kid know his secret, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. Not until the kid had some confidence back._

 _"It wasn't shock. It was a conscious decision. Can... can someone this weak really be a hero?!"_

 _And for the first time in a while, All Might's smile wavered. He knew the pain of being quirkless all too well. He had gotten lucky, oh so lucky, to have been chosen, but this kid? He had spirit, the kind the man had been looking for, but his drive seemed to veer off course._

 _"Admit it, All Might. I can tell from your sweat and hesitation..." Izuku put his head in his arms, unable to hold back the tears that gushed from his closed eyes like two seperate waterfalls. "I'm nothing. Just a quirkless nobody."_

 _And All Might sighed, defeated. He couldn't lie._

 _"Truthfully... no. You can not be a hero without a quirk. Some villains, as we have just seen, are too powerful for those without a quirk to call their own. But!" he began, after the boy showed no signs of moving," that does not mean you can't do good for the world! Police officers get a bad rap because of us, but that doesn't mean they're bad people who are just given a pity job! They are hard working individuals who hold up the law where heroes are not required! It's a fine job!"_

 _"I-thank you, All Might." It was clear he didn't mean it. The dejected feeling of the statement hit All Might harder than any punch he could deliver himself. He knew the pain all too well. He wanted to comfort the kid, show him his identity, even, but knew he couldn't. His timer was running out and he didn't even know the kid._

 _With a silent sigh, displeased with the outcome of the conversation, he fixed his smile back on his face, and with one strong jump forced himself far forwards, back towards the city._

 _Izuku only cried._

 **~0~0~**

It had been a week since that day, the day he finally broke, his world crashing around him leaving nothing but rubble and ruin left for him to walk through. But the building blocks, while scattered, still remain, and Izuku Midoriya was willing to pick up the pieces, one by one, until his world was rebuilt, stronger than ever. It all began just through the large iron gates before him.

For the first time in a long time, he is able to stand before his school with an unflinching smile upon his face. A wide, toothy grin, hidden beneath his hood. He was excited at the prospect of removing the hood, knowing he'd have to eventually anyway, just to see everyone's faces. He knew he's be asked to remove the whole hoodie, to obey school policy. He also knew he had to cover his scars, to obey school policy. Not like he had a jacket to work with.

He managed to slip into school just as home room started. He'd be a little late, but at least the few other late-comers were too busy running to class to notice the person taking place at Izuku Midoriya's locker, replacing his shoes with all the time in the world. They'd taken so much from him, they could do to spare some time.

With his bag over his shoulder and hood now pulled down, he strode through the empty halls of the school toward his home room, eagerly awaiting the moment but not one to rush it. He caught a few bored, wandering eyes from students in other classrooms through the windows. He'd respond to their admittedly hilarious stares of shock and awe with a cheerful, goofy grin, before continuing on his way. Shit was going down as his mind worked through his entrance possibilites and he knew it was purely of his own doing. He tried to quell the feeling of power building inside him, supressing the want for more. As fun as it was to hold something over others, he refused to turn into his once-friend. This never was meant to be a power trip for Izuku, merely a message. He intended on keep it that way.

With a few more steps, Izuku found his way to his homeroom. Desperately attempting to hide his smile, adopting his usual face of concentration that came with being in school, he pushed against the door handle, slowly widening the entrance to his home room.

The teacher was obviously the first to notice, looking up from roll call at the late-comer with eyes half-poised to roll, only to stop dead in his tracks, gaping soundless at the boy that stood at the entrance to his classroom.

Gradually, each student would turn their head back to see the cause of their teacher's terrified state, only to reel back in their own shock and horror, until each head was turned wordlessly towards the green haired boy at the back of the classroom. All except one.

Katsuki had his feet up on the table, leaned back in his chair and only paying a sliver of attention to his surroundings, mainly just waiting for his name to be called. It took him a moment to realise the silence that had befallen upon the classroom, and when he noticed he glanced around the room, confused as to why everyone's head was turned.

"What the fuck are you all..." he turned his head, following the gazes of his fellow classmates until he encountered the source. His eyes widened in fear, his skin ran cold and he swear his heart had stopped beating for a moment there. The embodiment of death could have stood in the same position as that nobody and Katsuki wouldn't have even batted an eyelid compared to how he reacted to seeing the supposedly drowned boy.

"D-D-Deku?!"

"Hello, sensei." Izuku bowed, accordingly, unphases by the stares of teacher and students alike. "I apologise for being late. I understand being gone a week is inexcusable, and I don't have any doctor's note to give in, but I swear, I am not without reason."

Everyone continued to remain silent, holding their unwavering stares at the boy that should be dead, though not once did he choose to even acknowledge the incredulous looks, maintaining eye contact only with his teacher, as if it were but a normal day to him. But it most certainly was not a normal day for Izuku. No. For once, it was a good day for him.

 **~0~0~**


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N.**

 **Fuck! This took a while! Not gonna bullshit some story for it. I was just lazy...**

 **A direct continuation of last chapter. Good thing I'm extending the chapter length, huh? This'd be the tenth chapter otherwise... probably. Now to write more frequently...**

 **It's awesome seeing some of you take a crack at what Deku's quirk may be. Don't worry, I'll shine some light on it in this chapter. Show don't tell and all that. Deku's still unsure of what the quirk is and how it works, so same goes for all of us! Except me, 'cause I'm writing the damn thing.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~0~0~**

Izuku stood at the back of his classroom, neat rows of desks from wall to wall, all but one filled with one of his classmates. Each student was turned in their chair, all eyes on Izuku, but he only dared look at one pair of eyes; those of his teacher, who currently stood, not dissimilar to his students, completely still, mouth hanging open and staring wordlessly at the dead man at the back of his classroom.

"Deku!"

One student in particular stood out among the crowd, blonde hair sticking out every which way as the owner lurched from his seat to face his dead friend. Izuku finally tore his gaze away from the teacher, looking straight at the offending classmate, for once unphased by his demeanor.

"Hey, Kacchan!" he smiled widely, waving, exaggerating his movements to a comical effect. "Sorry I've been away a while now. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you. An entire week without your little punching bag, huh?" He'd dropped his smile halfway through, leaning into a low scowl as he took Katsuki in. No more was he going to let his bully ruin his life.

"I thought you were dead, Deku! You mean to tell me you faked your own fucking death for a joke? For what? To get back at me? Make me feel bad? Well, news flash, you failed! I couldn't care less if you dropped off the face of the earth! I'd be happier, even! I've been happier and now you're just gonna walk back in and ruin my life with your presence?!"

Izuku grimaced, rage surging through his body faster than his blood could possibly carry it. His life had been ruined by the explosive bully and now the asshole is calling him the bad guy. He was not about to stand for that. Not after everything.

"Hey, Bakugou..." one of the nameless students piped up warily, "he didn't fake it..."

"What?" Katsuki's question was low, reserved, his eyes never leaving his green headed prey.

"I-it was on the news this morning... footage was released by the police. it showed Midoriya jumping from the bridge. A half hour later showed him crawling up the side of the hill leading into the river. H-he definitely jumped."

Izuku smiled, remembering having seen that same news report before he had left. He knew Katsuki was smart, and waited for him to put two and two together. There was no way a quirkless nobody could have survived that fall, let alone remained intact.

Luckily for him, it took Katsuki only a few seconds to figure it out, his face twisting from anger to sheer terror, to confusion before finally settling on a mixture of all three.

"N-no way did some quirkless loser survive that fall! D-Deku! You've been hiding a quirk this whole time, haven't you?! You bastard!"

Why Izuku was in the wrong, he couldn't fathom. All he knew was the anger now burning inside him stronger than any explosion Katsuki could ever create. And like any good fire, it fed off the oxygen Izuku's unknowingly heavy breathing was gathering, and raged into a seething purple that quickly overcame his vision, wrapping itself around every surface imagineable, coating everything and everyone in a faint purple hue.

Having been staring his verbal assailant in the eye, Izuku had immediately seen the purple envelop the bully, leaving the blonde frozen in place, arm outstretched, mouth opened in shout and eyes unblinking. With a start he jumped backwards, letting off a slight yelp as he watched Katsuki stop all movement, staring not quite at the green haired boy. He tripped over his own feet, hitting the back of his head off of the wall, yet felt no pain from the impact, his head only filled with a numbness that slowly etched its way dow his body, eventually forming into a sense of pins and needles.

Frantically searching for a sign of validation that Katsuki had indeed turned purple, he was certainly surprised to find all other students of the room draped in the same violet tint as Katsuki. He found the shade had bled out past the students also, stretching across the desks and staining the windows. Through the window Izuku saw a small bird, normally white but with the same hue to it, paused in mid-flight, wings out above its head and staring straight forward. Everything was rendered still, everyone silent. Nothing moved. No one breathed. All except Izuku, who stood at the front of it all shocked beyond belief at the insanity that had befallen upon him.

He had been amazed when he woke up the morning after the incident, finding himself alive despite having jumped a large drop into a raging river. The events of that night had been made fuzzy at best, the only reminder it even happened being his missing jacket and shoes. That knowledge had led him to believe he had developed a quirk, whether at the last moment or from a while ago without him knowing. However, he was still left unsure of what that quirk was, let alone how he had originally used it. He had tried multiple techniques throughout the week, though without ever leaving his room or responding to any stimuli, to try and make something, anything, happen, but to no effect.

This uncertainty led to a large amount of surprise as he watched his world wrap intself in purple before his very eyes. And yet, after a moment to adjust, he smiled, grinned, laughed at the confirmation. The one thing he had always wanted was finally in his hands, confirmation guarenteed, yet would only be a footnote in his life. Getting his smile under control, he immediately made his way through the sea of desks towards Katsuki's, standing before the unmoving teen without fear of being burned. It felt exhilarating, to say the least.

Unsure of what moved him, whether a by-product of his anger and just a need to test, Izuku brought his hand up to the side of Katsuki's face, only to bring it down lightly onto his cheek, then again, harder. Not once did Katsuki move, his head never budging, his eyes never twitching. Izuku gave one last slap, as hard as he could, feeling not a sting in his hand as still Katsuki's head refused to move. And as fast as it had come, the purple dripped out of the world like wet paint down a canvas, leaving remnant streaks that soon followed suit, returning the world to its former palette. The pins and needles followed along, draining from Izuku's body, and at once everything flew into motion.

And Katsuki's head jerked sideways, a bright red mark immediately planting itself onto the side of his face as he was left unbalanced and unsteady as he grabbed his desk with one hand for support, the other immediately going to his face. He gently touched the stinging flesh, trying hard not to flinch at the lurch in pain as he dragged his eyes back up to Izuku's. While shock was plastered across Katsuki's face, all Izuku showed was cold, steely determination and what appeared to be anger behind a restrained grimace.

"Sir," he spoke, suddenly feeling drained of his energy but not looking away from Katsuki, "I know I just arrived, but may I go home early today? I get the feeling I'm no longer welcome here."

 **~0~0~**

Izuku had promised his mum he'd return home immediately after leaving school, but with the surprise he gave to his class, he assumed they'd still be in shock and have not yet told his mother. Whether that was the case or not, he didn't care too much. He'd shown the people that ruined him that he was alive, standing stronger than ever and with renewed determination.

And a little bit more, Izuku thought to himself, taking his time to stare calmly out along the trashed shoreline of Dagobah Municipal Beach. He remembered the days he'd go there as a young child, enjoying the soft sand, the calm waves, the easy smile his mum had long since seemed to lose, replaced by one that only seemed more and more forced as Izuku got older.

He'd grown to hate the sand. What was once soft and smooth to him was now coarse, and rough, and it got everywhere. He was unsure what faciliated this shift in perspective, nor why that hatred spread towards the beach as a whole. Even so, it still saddened him to see the beach littered with large amounts of trash and other illegal dumpings.

He sat by the entrance leading down to the dumping grounds, watching the tide grow slowly until it pushed and eventually thrashed against the wall of expectations, not making so much as a dent, before finally retreating, back to its mediocre state.

"An analogy for the ages..." Izuku muttered, pulling himself from his dream-like state, knowing full well that the analogy was subject to change, and change soon. For the first time in his life he'd been able to truly put a dent in that wall, and as he got stronger he'd only break down that wall piece by piece until not even rubble remained.

The U.A. entrance exam was in a few months, and in that time he knew he had to improve greatly. He may have a quirk, but without proper control what hope did he have with it? He could barely understand exactly what it was and he only had a few months to master it!

"Shit! Okay, think, Izuku, think," he began muttering frantically to himself, formulating a plan that would benefit him not just for the months to come, but beyond that as well. Alongside quirk practice, he still required a basic understanding of that quirk. Adding strength training and full body workouts to the regime had him sweating where he still sat. He knew he had to get stronger. He knew he needed to understand his quirk, to control it.

"But I'll be damned if it's gonna be easy..."

He picked himself up from the gate, taking one last look out beyond the eyesore before him, staring at the waves that shone blue in the afternoon sunlight. With a smile, a confident glint in his eye, he turned his back to the water. The future was to come, but for now there was only the present.

And home.

Assuming he had wasted enough time lost in thought, Izuku took his first step forward towards his home, almost immediately breaking out into a run. He had to start somewhere.

 **~0~0~**

Having greatly misjudged the distance between the beach and his home, Izuku only found himself collapsed outside, mere inches from the door but not quite reaching distance. He'd had a moment to regain some stamina during his run about halfway through when his mother had called. Having heard of her son's escapades from school, Inko was rightfully worried when Izuku hadn't shown up after being out of school for a few hours. When he had taken his breather and told her his plans, her worry became nothing less than encouragement for her son. He had hung up prematurely, intent on completing the distance in one more go after her words of encouragement. Needless to say, he was regretting that decision.

"Dinner's on the way, Izuku," Inko smiled sweetly, watching her sweat-soaked son pull himself wearily from the ground. "Come inside and wash up. Dagobah Beach, huh? You must be starving."

"Yeah, actually. Thanks mum!" Izuku beamed at his mother, a look she had not seen in years now, one that positively swelled her heart. She chuckled silently as Izuku dragged himself down the hallway towards the bathroom, happy to see her son smiling again, and for the first time, confident in himself.

With a smile of content she set herself up in the kitchen once again, humming a soft tune as the shower could be heard running just out of view. And then she remembered something vital, and slapped herself for forgetting.

"We're out of salt!"

 **~0~0~**

 **Don't worry Inko, the internet's got you covered.**

 **Updated chapter. Fixed two spelling mistakes, one more vital for change than the other. Thanks Loading Name for pointing them out.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N.**

 **My Uni has long ass holidays that leave me bored for hours on end each day. You'd think I'd write more often because of that, huh? Bloody hell...**

 **Well, anyways, a little call to action before we get into this chapter. You may have noticed the OC tag for this story. While I have his quirk thought out, appearance and stuff, as a non-Japanese person I find it quite difficult to come up with a name for him. If anyone's got any suggestions, it'd be appreciated.**

 **But alas, time for the story!**

 **~0~0~**

Inko Midoriya was sat down on her couch, staring at the TV, sound muted, not actually watching the cartoon that had recently started playing. She had tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear to make room for the phone she held to the side of her head, intent on listening to the voice on the other side. She had originally been the one to call him, hoping to come to a deal with him on the future studies of her son.

"While normally I would encourage all students to arrive to school every day," Izuku's principal began after a moment to think about Inko's offer, "in the case of your son, I believe an exception can be made this time. You say he still wishes to enrol in U.A.?" Inko nodded before realising she couldn't be seen.

"Yes."

"And for that, he will still need to be enlisted as a middle school student. With the entrance exam only a few months away, enrolling in a new middle school is out of the question. However, you still do not wish for him to arrive at this school due to what he has been through. Am I correct so far?"

Inko nodded again, this time humming her agreement. She had spent the last half hour babbling on about her intentions, her message coming out more confusing each time. She was relieved the principal had been able to piece her jumbled speech together.

"Your solution is to have him stay enrolled at our school, learn the same curriculum, and use our name when applying for U.A., but his study will be confined to his home."

"That is what I ask, yes. If it's not too inconvenient, of course."

"Oh, no, of course not! As I said, I'm willing to make a compromise considering the circumstances surrounding young Izuku. It could prove to be mentally damaging for not just him, but his class as well, were he to suddenly return. I will get in touch with his teacher and provide him with your email. Each week he will email you regarding the week's study, of which Izuku will be required to complete said study during that week, at which point you can email it back to his teacher. Does that work for you?"

"Yes, that is perfect. Thank you so much for this."

"It is my pleasure, Midoriya-chan. I take full responsibility for not taking the initiative to put a stop to the frankly quite obvious bullying that was going on surrounding the whole school, your son included. This is the absoulte least I can do."

"Thank you. Really. I really appreciate it."

"Happy to help. Have a good day."

"Yes, you too."

Inko placed the phone down, relief washing over her body. Running a hand through her long hair, she noticed her son standing by the doorway, face partially obscured by the wall. She smiled.

"Just because you're studying at home now doesn't mean you get to goof off, you know?" she began, her face trying to be stern yet her smile refused to waver. "I will check in on you every now and then until your day's work is complete. Is that understood?"

From the shadows the corners of his lips could be seen rising, his eyes gleaming.

"Of course." Izuku stated, voice full of confidence that it once lacked.

 **~0~0~**

Izuku had always prided himself on his intelligence. His analytical ability, which he had honed over the course of many years, often proved to be nigh unbeatable. He had never had difficulty understanding and paying attention during his classes, and often scored higher on the list than most of his class. While nobody spoke to him due to their fear of Katsuki, he had undoubtedly earned the respect of a few of his classmates.

Having completed his daily study quota earlier than expected, something he would often do in class (and spend the rest of the class reading over his hero notes), he had a decent amount of free time on his hands.

Having looked over the study quotas of each day, he had been able to create a standard training regimen based off of the assumption that he completed each quota about a half hour earlier than expected. On some of the harder material that was undoubtedly to come, this schedule would prove difficult to maintain, but no pain, no gain.

Having chosen to start each exercise session with a run, Izuku began stretching out his joints as he stood before his door, his path pre-determined the night before. To the beach and back. He could imagine, just from the previous night, how much pain he would be in because of this, but until it became easy to run such a distance, he wouldn't dare let himself cry or complain. He needed to take the initiative on his own growth, whether it killed him or not.

After, and if possible, during his run he planned on practising quirk usage. Having spent the past few days deliberating on why it had activated during his return, he had realised that he had felt angry at Katsuki, more angry than usual, whereas when looking further back to his jump, he had felt fear. It appeared his quirk acted as a defence mechanism to protect him from outside sources, yet can be used for offensive purposes also.

Barreling through the front door, Izuku made his way towards the trash head he had spent hours staring at the previous day. His feet kicked up dirt as he stepping off the main footpath into a beautiful flower garden. Taking a moment to slow down to a fast jog, he took glances out at the tall hedges that bordered the garden, the well trimmed bushes that lined the dirt footpath he ran across, the smooth, sturdy wooden bridge that carried him over the small, hand-crafted lake, admiring each for their own subtle beauties and yet how they managed to all belong together.

Focusing back to his run, Izuku took the first exit out past the hedge wall into a more rural housing area just off the city he often visited. The streets remained empty apart from a few cars dotted along the sidewalk, likely visitors to the residents of the respective houses.

Feeling his legs begin to burn, Izuku took a quick moment to slow down again, dropping to a brisk walk, taking long steps as he focused his attention ahead of him.

 _Focus..._

Images of Katsuki seeped into his mind, dancing around behind his eyes and taking place in his thoughts. Each subsequent image of his spiky hair, exploding hands and maniacal grin added to the anger that Izuku felt towards the boy.

 _Focus!_

He grasped onto one image in particular, a more recent memory of Katsuki standing above him, laughing as his prey fell victim once again to his torment. The image took motion, the secondary perspective into the memory looking down at his arm, exposed from the hole in his sleeve. He had not wanted them to see.

 _FOCUS!_

The world before him shifted, stretched itself out partially in each direction as every surface caked itself in a thin, opaque layer of purple not unlike the shade he saw only a few days ago. The sharp pain that had begun lancing up his side subsided immediately, replaced with the same pins and needles that had filtered through his body only days prior.

After taking a moment to compose himself, Izuku broke into a light run, awaiting the lance in pain to return to his side. When it didn't, he only ran faster. And faster. Pushing himself past any speed barriers that he had as a result of the pain he would often feel, he pushed himself faster still down the street, taking note in the static nature of everything surrounding him. No tree dared blow in the wind, no bird chirped as he ran by, nothing. All was silent but a high pitched ringing that appeared to come solely from him.

He found himself at the end of the street, vaulting over the dead end sign as he ran further towards his destination, encountering a decently wide river seemingly frozen in place. Deciding to be adventurous, Izuku ignored the bridge a few feet away, tossing himself down the slight embankment into the water. Both feet planted onto the surface of the water, not a ripple forming as he ran across the layer of purplish blue.

He grinned widely as he slowed to a jog near the other side of the stream, laughing at the power he found himself with. He looked back at the path he created as he dropped to a rest on the incline, letting his mind wander from his quirk, allowing the violet tint he found comforting to fall away from each surface. He watched in awe as everything bled back into life, sound cutting in rather abruptly, almost hurting his ears, as the river shot back into life, a sudden line of disturbance appearing over the water's surface where Izuku had run across, the line quickly vanished as the stream rapidly dragged it away.

And like a sledgehammer to the stomach, Izuku collapsed as a large jolt of pain lanced up his side, reminding him the stitch he left behind hadn't gone anywhere.

 **~0~0~**

Having decided against using his quirk again during the run, he had completed the distance to and fro in mild pain and with a large amount of sweat, but unlike the previous attempt, his stretches had helped keep his joints from locking up, somewhat minimising the pain he felt as he collapsed just over the threshold of his home. He figured testing the limits of his quirk could come later. Just the minute of use during the run left him a lot more exhausted than he would have otherwise been.

Figuring a shower was a good option, Izuku peeled his tracksuit from his torso, the air conditioning in his home immediately getting to work on cooling his body down. His mother, seated at the couch as he walked past, took one look at him before stating she'd get him some clothes. Nodding weakly, Izuku stepped into the bathroom, tearing his track pants and underwear from his body before hopping into the shower, immediately dipping his head under the cold water, happy to let his sweat be carried away with the icy stream. A knock at the door came before it opened a crack, a loose shirt and another pair of tracksuit pants being tossed in before the door closed as quickly as it opened.

After another minute in the shower, Izuku pulled himself away from the soothing water, drying himself off and throwing on his new set of clothes. He'd have loved to spend more time in the shower but knew he had more work to do.

Throwing his sweat soaked clothes in the washing basket outside of his room, he stepped through into his room of All Might memorabilia and dreams of heroism. Despite everything, he couldn't find it in him to hate All Might. He had been the nail in Izuku's coffin, yet he still respected his idol. He had given his opinion on the matter just as Izuku had asked him to. It wasn't his fault his hopes didn't line up with the truth.

Dropping to the floor by his bed, Izuku took one last look up at the many faces of his idol, determination taking place upon his plain face. With both hands on the floor and legs kept straight, he proceeded to lower himself down and raise himself back up.

He continued his push ups until he could not. He was only dissapointed when he collapsed, his arms giving out at only eight separate reps. He still had so far to go.

"Three sets... break in between... then onto weights..." he muttered to himself. "Set two, ready when you are!"

 **~0~0~**


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N.**

 **Okay, so basically, we're skipping ahead a bit through time, a few days left before the entrance exam as of starting this chapter. This little skip makes it a bit easier to write in Deku's quirk and fitness growth.**

 **Anyways, here we go.**

 **~0~0~**

He rose before the heavy sack of sand that hung from the ceiling, knuckles bruised and panting heavily. The typical red colouring of the bag replaced by the purple hue he was growing to love. His bruises ceased to sting, his muscles stopped their screams, and time itself halted beneath his gaze.

His numbed body, previously immobile, reacted accordingly to his inputs. His arm raised without complaints, and as his fist connected with the sandbag the only obstacle that dared oppose him was the target that hung frozen before him. He had quickly become used to it, his inputs proving initially useless, for he had come to expect outstanding results when he finally chose to let it all move.

He hit the sandbag again, with as much force as he could muster, more than he would dare use outside of his own little world. He struck again, aiming for the small indentations caused by his previous sets on it, in and out of stasis.

His fist struck home again.

In his eye it was not a sandbag he was punching, but rather a shocked and confused Katsuki Bakugou who suffered under the tireless onslaught of fists. He knew it was unheroic, petty even, to consider his target to be a fellow wannabe hero, but at this point in his life, he didn't care.

Some would argue him focusing on his future heroic endeavours would have been a generally better way to go about his training, but in his mind, the retribution he needed with Katsuki was part of that, the first step to being better. If he can finally prove himself to the explosive teen, put everything behind them, then maybe they could finally move on. Not as friends, that possibility was off the table, not even as rivals, but as classmates, heroes in training. Maybe they could learn to put up with each other.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

The dark room grew darker as the familiar purple drained away. The sandbag finally gave way, caving into the flurry and snapping from its chains, slamming against the wall on the far side of the room.

 **~0~0~**

Another day passed of Izuku going through the usual routines; a long run followed by a few short dashes using his quirk. He'd rest for a few minutes before placing himself in the centre of the long abandoned beach's car park, practising basic hand-to-hand combat against dummies made from scrap metal and various parts scavenged from the wreckage on the beach. Taking another run home before the sun set gave him time to complete his daily school quota, keeping him on top of his studies. After a well-made dinner with his mother, Izuku would finalise his day with a few general exercises, from light weights to the punching bag, moreso a way to loosen out any tight muscles, before finally having a shower and turning in for the night.

As Izuku stood in the shower, head resting against the glass wall as his sweat was drained from his body after a particularly long day, he gave himself a moment to truly think about everything. Since he had begun his rigorous training routine that only escalated as he got stronger, he had given himself less time to stop and think about the upcoming exam.

He sighed. Was he ready?

"The exam is tomorrow. Whether I'm ready or not doesn't matter at this point. I go in there and either get my ass handed to me, or I walk away with my head held high. Either way, I'm giving it my all."

His thoughts lingered on Katsuki for a moment, certainty taking place that he would see his bully at U.A., knowing he'd get in. The question was whether Izuku would join him. He knew he would, if he had anything to say about it.

Steam poured from the growing crack between the glass wall and door of the shower as Izuku stepped out, quickly slipping into a pair of comfortable, warm, tracksuit pants. Merely a few months ago Izuku could barely stand against the blonde that haunted his thoughts. Now, however, Izuku found himself the exact opposite of what Katsuki had despised about him. He had a quirk, he was now so much stronger, and his drive to be a hero had only grown tenfold since his jump from the bridge that lifetime ago.

He laid himself down on his bed, pulling up the covers over his legs, resting the edge on his waist, as it wasn't a particularly hot night. He knew that the coming day would be his greatest test. Without a particularly flashy quirk, he knew he had to rely on more unorthodox means to stand out above each aspiring U.A. student. With a quirk that allowed him to cross the battlefield before any fight could even begin, he knew he held the initial upper hand in the coming mock battle.

What worried him, however, was the aftermath. Using his quirk had proven time and time again that he would only walk away exhausted, drained of energy. In short bursts it took even less time in stasis to drain him of his energy. He knew his best plan in battle was to stick close to the large majority of applicants. That was most likely where the bulk of fake villains would attack. From there he just needed one big burst of stasis, some time to hit each villain a few times, and from there he could sit back and watch as the enemies shattered to scrap around him, tallying his points in the middle of the metallic carnage.

It was, of course, a gamble. A lot of assumptions were made, including the point value. He could take out twenty separate entities only to discover them all as one pointers. Perhaps everyone would stare in shock as another robot bursted onto the scene, only for Izuku to be unable to defend himself after tiring himself out like that.

It was a gamble, a great risk that not only can, but will, make or break his chances as a hero. Doubts could come later, however. No harm in trying, after all.

Izuku closed his eyes. Sleep did not come easy.

 **~0~0~**

"You're really going through with it, huh Deku?"

"You know I have to."

Izuku walked not quite side by side with his long time enemy, Katsuki. The two remained a reasonable distance apart from one another, both walking at a steady pace towards the beginning of each of their dreams. Katsuki was naturally dressed in his school uniform, whereas Izuku, being officially unofficially home schooled, had more casual clothes on, a plain black hoodie and jeans. Each boy carried with them a bag of workout clothes.

Contact between the two had minimalised greatly since Izuku's return. The last time he had seen his explosive bully had been during a chance encounter one weekend, in the middle of one of Izuku's runs. It was a hot day, and Izuku had been running with his tracksuit jacket tied around his waist, his short sleeved, white shirt doing nothing to hide the toned body he had accumulated.

No words had been spoken when they ran into each other, the two opting instead to trade looks, Izuku retaliating Katsuki's surprised, almost solemn glances with a long stare filled only with his newly aquired determination. They parted almost immediately.

Now they walked side by side, crossing each other's path by chance on the way to their entrance exam and falling into a silent march. It was Katsuki who finally broke it.

"What the hell even is your quirk, Deku?"

Surprisingly to Izuku, the blonde didn't sound or appear angry like usual, instead opting out his abrasive shouting for a more even, genuinely curious tone. What brought this change in tone on, Izuku didn't know.

"Not the easiest to explain. I guess..." he paused, thinking of the best description without giving everything away. "I guess the best way to describe it is, well, I freeze time."

Katsuki cast a sidelong glance at the green haired teen, regarding the authenticity. Apart from the avoidal of eye contact, which was expected for an entirely different reason, Katsuki found no signs of lying.

"And that's how you seemed to teleport to me that day..."

"Yeah..."

The conversation was decidedly over, neither teen thinking to continue, falling silent for the last stretch of terrain leading to U.A.'s front entrance.

The opening archway into U.A. greeted the two as they arrived, the school behind it towering over all who looked. Izuku, naturally, was one to look, staring up at the gargantuan towers that made up the high school. Katsuki only sighed, not sparing himself a moment to think. He had no doubt he'd get in, but still, better safe than sorry. He was arrogant, not stupid. He'd do whatever it took to maximise his chances of success, whether it be getting a cheap hit in or ignoring a stop sign.

He left Izuku standing by the entrance staring up at the school in awe, but not before speaking once more.

"You've changed, Deku. Only a fool wouldn't notice it. Prove to me you've done so for the better."

Izuku pulled himself from his thoughts, turning to Katsuki, a response already on his tongue when he realised Katsuki had already left, vanished into the sea of people making their way indoors. With a shrug, Izuku decided to follow suit, taking his first steps forward before violently being shoved to the ground, his duffel bag detaching from his shoulders and hitting the pavement beside him.

"Shit! Sorry about that!" a voice called out above him. From outside of his vision a hand extended down toward Izuku, one he took after a moment. He was instantly and easily pulled to his feet.

"It's fine. No harm done." Izuku smiled, reaching down to grab his bag before taking a look at his assailant turned helper. He was greeted with a sight of a tall boy, easily six foot with shoulder length, light brown hair tied at the back into a short ponytail. Like the other students (discluding Izuku) he sported a school uniform, but unlike many of the others he wore the provided black jacket open, revealing a black tee shirt with a strange skull printed on it, but done so with psychedelic colouring and in a tribal sort of style. His tartan black and red pants completed the look.

"Seriously, you okay? Wouldn't wanna start my future in this school in someone's bad graces." He seemed friendly enough, even sounded quite worried for the kid. Even with all the exercise, Izuku still appeared relatively weak with his muscled body hidden beneath his hoodie.

"Trust me, I'm fine. I've taken worse hits." Izuku held an arm behind his head, appearing quite sheepish. It wasn't often someone showed any concern for him, apart from his mother, of course.

What could only be described as realisation bled its way behind the tall boy's eyes. Realisation of what, Izuku wasn't sure.

"Anyways, again, sorry." he started. "We should be getting inside." He turned from Izuku and started walking into the school. Whether he expected Izuku to follow or not didn't matter in particular, as they both had different seats.

Izuku found himself beside Katsuki once again, the ash blonde softly sighing as Izuku sat down.

"Still registered as part of our school, huh?"

"I mean, I was still doing the same work... just at home."

"Hm."

 **~0~0~**

The combat briefing went by as expected. Present Mic made his boisterous appearance, only to be met with silence. Izuku was ecstatic to see the hero in person, but managed to have the right mind to keep his ramblings in his head. After an explanation of the combat trial's point system (with the 0 point obstacle being brought up after a suggestion from a tall, blue haired student) the students all made to leave towards their respective battle centers.

"So you're in B, huh, Deku?" Katsuki peered at Izuku's destination slip as they grabbed their bags.

"Yeah. I assume it's to split up any friends from the same school from working together."

"It's a shame." Katsuki's comment caught Izuku off guard, and he waited for him to elaborate. "I was hoping to see you finally do something worthwhile."

 _Same old Kacchan. Not that I'll ever call him that again..._

"Don't worry about me, Bakugou. My quirk might not be the most offensive, but I have my workarounds. Come high school, expect to see my green hair pop up."

While he'd never admit it, Katsuki did partially hope to see his past victim in his class come their high school years. Even before the rise of this stasis quirk, Izuku had shown great determination whenever it involved heroism. This determination, now with the addition of some previously lacking confidence, had Katsuki almost impressed.

"Deku's gone through more shit in the years leading to this than anyone here will have in their whole life..." he started mumbling to himself as he departed from the boy in question, heading towards the changing rooms. He made sure to speak low so nobody could hear him. "He'll never be able to beat me, hell, he may not be able to beat anyone, but he damn well deserves to go far."

 _Fuck. Have I seriously gone soft for that nerd?_

 **~0~0~**

Izuku had to admit, the lineup was impressive. As he stretched out his body readying himself for the battle to begin he couldn't help but look around at the group of students. His competitors. He was naturally amazed at the variety of students gathered at the battle center, from tall guys seemingly of pure muscle (and one with six arms!) to smaller, less physically impressive students, including a certain skinny blonde who appeared to have his own equipment, perhaps to help with his quirk. The smaller ones would have to rely on cunning more than others, assuming their quirks wouldn't just be able to carry them through.

Looking through the crowd Izuku's eyes landed on a girl, eyes closed and seemed to by psyching herself up, heavy focus on her breathing patterns. He noticed a glint of what could only be sweat beneath her decently long chocolate hair that she quickly, subconsciously fanned away. Izuku took notice of the pads where her fingerprints should be, and wondered what kind of quirk she had to show off.

"She's pretty cute, ain't she?" a familiar voice came directly beside Izuku's ear, soft but loud enough to frighten the green haired boy, who jumped back a few feet giving a small yelp. He turned to face the random boy and immediately recognised him.

"Oh, hey. You're that guy from outside."

"Yeah. You seemed nervous so I figured I'd say hi. Everyone needs a friendly face once in a while." He smiled nervously. "Even if they only just met the guy."

"I guess so. You startled me though."

"The opportunity was too good to pass up. Onto another topic that I'd figure I'd bring up, however. Didn't realise you were trying out for the hero course. Excuse my bluntness, but you seemed quite lacking in the everything department when I knocked you over outside the gates. Though, if what I'm thinking is true, I shouldn't really be all that surprised."

"Huh? What do you-"

"And the timer begins!" a loud voice boomed. Present Mic's voice seemed to cut Izuku's words in half. "Get moving dammit! Real fights don't have countdowns!"

A hand found its way onto Izuku's shoulder, quickly spinning him around towards the battle center where he saw many a student charge into the grounds. The tall boy then quickly ran past him, almost goading him into following. Not that he needed much of a push.

It wasn't until Izuku caught up with his fellow student that the mystery boy spoke, quickly ducking into a side alley as Izuku stopped dead in his tracks.

"See you on the battlefield, Midoriya!"

 **~0~0~**


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N.**

 **Okay, I have yet to write action, so here's a test of my writing skill. I like to think I'm pretty good but we'll see what we get here. Got my metal playing in the background to get my in the mood, let's go.**

 **~0~0~**

"Wait... how did he?" Izuku quickly shook his head, banishing all confusion from his mind. He knew he'd have to get some answers from the strange kid later. Until then he'd just push on towards passing.

Seeing the large group ahead of him begin to split up, branches splitting off down alleyways and up buildings, Izuku pushed heavily against the ground, throwing himself quickly towards the bulk of students that remained still on the ground. It appeared many believed in safety in numbers, with hopes of doing well enough to excel among the crowd.

As Izuku caught up to the still large group his suspicions were confirmed as a strangely small quantity of mechanical opponents appeared before them all, charging at the group. Three students were quick to jump before them. One boy, who appeared to have mechanical parts in his legs, managed to destroy two of the robots while the other two kids only got one each.

"That puts me at two points. If I can keep this momentum up I won't have to worry about passing." His muttering quickly turned to a sharp focus ahead of him, and with a sudden burst of speed he disappeared ahead of the group.

"Those robots were easy to beat!" one of the other students who fought exclaimed. "Honestly, if they're gonna be this easy to break I shouldn't have to stick around you losers!"

He ran off before anyone else could move, and with his departure everything was set in motion. A sudden wave of confidence flew through the crowd and all at once the students split up in random directions in hopes of finding their own hordes to take down.

Opting to stay in the open and keep an eye out on his surroundings, Izuku continued running in the same direction, aiming towards the heart of the fake city. Along the way he encountered a trio of one-pointers, and judging from their seemingly light armour and low score count, decided not to waste his quirk on them.

Charging at the trio, they were quickly alerted to his presence when one of them lost the top of their head, having it ripped off with surprising ease by the green haired kid. Immediately founding what he could only assume was the power core, he delivered a hard kick that dislodged the device. The once upright machine immediately collapsed, forcing Izuku to jump before he went down with it.

"That kid was right, these guys aren't too bad. Though I imagine they'll get tougher."

Immediately retreating into his thoughts to think about his best plan of attack, he completely missed the other two robots bearing down on him.

"Heads up, greenie!" a voice shouted from down an alley, snapping the boy in question from his thoughts in time to dodge a downwards swipe from one of the machines.

From where the voice originated from a pasty white tendril whipped out from the darkness, planting itself straight through the head of the robot that had yet to attack before retreating into the shadows again.

Having regained his bearings, Izuku quickly turned his attention to his attacker, whose arms appeared embedded in the ground, leaving it unable to move as Izuku quickly climbed up the side, tearing off the head's plating and knocking loose the machine's brain.

It crumpled, leaving Izuku at two points.

"Thanks for the warning." Izuku knew that whoever had snapped him out of his thoughts (and stolen one of his points) had long since left, but felt it appropriate to thank whoever he was anyway.

A sudden eruption of noise from just outside of his view alerted him to more activity. With a start he ran towards it.

 **~0~0~**

The challenging exam only grew harder as the robot onslaught intensified in numbers and difficult of the enemies. Izuku had managed to out-maneuver multiple robots, finding their power cores to all be placed in the same general vicinity, leading him to earning more points, but at a slower rate than he'd like to admit.

He knew time was truly beginning to run out and he had yet to use his quirk, providing him with a strong trump card for a large group of enemies.

Stumbling onto a large clearing, his wishes were granted as he found himself taking place in a large, uneven wall purely made up of fellow students, all facing down a massive quantity of robots rapidly advancing on their position. A sudden spike of adrenaline hit Izuku hard as a million thoughts raced through his brain, one standing out above all. Use quirk, get points, feel bad about stealing points from others, but fuck it, he needs them too.

The robot onslaught stilled in no large amount of time, each separate entity taking upon the ever-familiar purple hue. With no time to think yet plenty to waste, Izuku threw his now numb body the short distance towards the first robot, quickly laying into it with hard punches without fear of any painful backlash.

After a suitable amount of hits that would surely cause a large amount of damage come stasis end, Izuku moved onto his next target.

After many long minutes for Izuku (and less than half the time it takes for an ant to take a step for everyone else) his rounds came to an end, each metal adversary having been dealt their own large quantity of kicks, punches and the occasional head butt.

All at once things fell into motion, many of the metal monsters literally falling as the blunt force they experienced decided they'd just stop. Others showed more physical signs of damage, skulls crumpling in on themselves and limbs being torn off as they too hit the ground. Others still took on a more grandiose reaction, suddenly exploding into large balls of metal and fire.

Every student and even the teachers secretly monitoring shared a collective jaw drop. One teacher in particular, one that could only be described as a blonde skeleton in a suit, almost had a heart attack from the carnage that unfolded before him.

In the middle of the mayhem lay one perculiar green haired kid, fallen on all fours and trying desperately to keep his lunch in after over-exerting himself. Despite this he managed to utter a few words that only brought him pride before losing the battle with his stomach.

"47... total points..."

 **~0~0~**

Needless to say, reactions were mixed.

"That little shit stole our points!"

"There's still time, we can just get more."

"Did he really do all that though? And how?!"

"If I get in, remind me not to get on his bad side."

"Brilliant... while we held our ground waiting for the mechs to come to us, he took advantage of that and met them halfway. Though quite an ill-spirited tactic, taking all the points for himself, it certainly worked in his favour."

"Hold up, you're defending him?!"

"Yo, he gonna be okay? That's a lot of puke..."

Just then the ground started shaking. Metal bits began bouncing around the downed student who still barely held himself off the ground.

"Only three minutes left!" Present Mic's voice was heard echoing throughout each battle centre. "But not without a little present!"

No building could compare in size, little human could compare in might, as rising from the ground and towering over everything in sight was the illusive 0-pointer.

"Yo, they expect us to fight that?!"

"Of course not! They did say it was an obstacle!"

"Fuck this, I'm out of here!"

All at once as if it were some orchestrated event, each student found themselves turning in the other direction and running. Some hesitated, looking back at the downed kid, clearly unable to move, before running away themselves to save their own skin.

Knowing he'd be screwed if he didn't move, Izuku tried with all his might to lift himself off the ground, but each time only fell as neither arms nor legs would help him up. He was lucky to have had enough strength to at least hold him just barely above his own sick.

"Help!"

And then a voice rang out, so soft yet nothing short of a gong to his ears. His body couldn't move, his arms could barely hold him from a messy faceplant, yet he somehow found himself standing, running, despite the concrete filling his legs and emptiness in his stomach.

Before he could even react to his own action he found himself beside the fallen student, the same brunette he saw mentally preparing herself at the start of the exam.

"Are you okay? Can you move?"

"No," she called back, seemingly trying to hold back tears, "my legs are stuck! I think one might be broken..."

"Shit." His response was short, his brain focusing more on how to get her out of the 0-pointer's path. Reacting on instinct he placed both hands underneath the slab of stone that had been knocked over onto her legs, trying desperately to pull it off, something his weary arms simply would not allow.

"Run! You can't save me! Save yourself!"

"If I don't try then what good of a hero am I?!" he suddenly screamed, frightening the girl as a shadow fell over the both of them, a large metal fist reeling back, threating to crush them both.

"Answer?" a startingly familiar voice suddenly resounded from behind Izuku. "A pretty shit one, if I may be frank. At the same time though, getting yourself killed for nothing isn't a whole lot better."

The fist flew down hard and fast. The girl pinned beneath the slab screaming. Izuku turned around to face both his assailant and his saviour. His saviour, the light brown ponytail having quickly become all-to-familiar over the course of the day, stood strong against the incoming fist.

Izuku barely had time to blink as strange, pasty white tendrils shot out of the strange student's back, each end embedding into the ground and forming a slight border around the two students on the ground. Each tendril then grew an extra limb, one that rose up towards the giant fist, each spreading out rapidly into large shields that immediately overlapped each other.

A second of silence passed before suddenly everything shook as a large impact came from above the white parasol, pushing the strangely effective barrier further into the ground slightly, though the student in control remained easily on his feet.

Curiosity struck home and upon closer inspection Izuku realised with a start the shield seemed to be made solely of bone. Admittedly exceptionally strong bone to have survived the recent blow, but it was definitely bone.

As soon as the ground's reaction to the giant attack subsided, the bone structure immediately shrunk down, slotting itself under the buttoned shirt of the kid, which Izuku realise must have been opened at the front.

A low groan resounding from below him knocked him back into reality, turning back to the girl who's legs appeared to be free, the large chunk of stone having been dislodged by the fist's impact. Without even a word the ponytail'd guy knelt down, quickly positioning the girl into a rather uncomfortable position on his back before standing back up, extending his free hand down to Izuku, who quickly took it.

Wrapping Izuku's arm around his and the girl's necks, the kid pseudo-sprinted into a side alley away from the giant mech's rampage at a surprisingly fast rate. While he wouldn't be breaking any speed records, he managed to get the two incapacitated students to safety before the robot started moving again.

"And... time's up!"

 **~0~0~**

"Okay, so we got a guy who can wipe out an entire battlefield in the blink of an eye, though notably exhausting himself in the process... and another who just blocked the 0-pointer's attack before carrying two others to safety."

"That first kid, he ran straight to that girl without a moment of thought. Honestly, is it any sort of surprise I'm giving his ten rescue points, straight up?"

"No. I'm with you on that one, though I don't think you give the other boy credit. Just because he wasn't immediately on scene didn't mean he hesitated."

"Hm... we're gonna have to keep an eye on these two. They seem like quite a formidable pair."

 **~0~0~**

"It hurts, it hurts!"

"Happy thoughts, Ochaco. I can fix the bone but the pain won't subside."

"Fuck the bone, get rid of the pain!"

"The pain will go away a lot faster than the fracture. Midoriya, hold her arms down!"

"Right!"

Izuku placed both hands on either of the girl's arms, keeping her from thrashing around and making the pain worse while the other guy gently placed his hand on her shin, holding her leg down himself while dealing with the bone.

With a painfully audible series of cracks followed only by tear-filled screaming, the bone seemed to snap back into place, her leg no longer bending at the odd angle it was.

Indicating for Izuku to let her go, the kid crawled up to the girl's head, immediately wiping at her few tears without any hesitation. After a surprisingly short moment, her cries of pain subsided as the pain lessened to the point of being manageable.

With his main priority now taken care of, Izuku sat back against the wall opposite the two brunettes in the alley, thoughts on his next set of questions.

"How..." he began cautiously, eyes directing towards the guy, "do you know my name?"

"Well," the boy began with a slight smile, "I'm not much of a TV guy, but I tend to have that music channel playing throughout my apartment. Makes the place feel more alive. One night, that channel happened to get taken over by one of the news stations. All this talk about a certain green haired kid."

Izuku looked down in shame. He had forgotten that the news of his attempted suicide had been aired all throughout Japan.

"Not every day someone jumps into the river only to walk out of it thirty minutes later, quirkless or not." He leant forward, finally locking eyes with the boy he spoke of. "Many choose to forget it, immediately or after a while. Short attention spans. Not me though. One of the few pieces of news I got so naturally, it stuck."

A moment of uneasy silence fell between the trio, none certain of what to say, so the ponytail'd guy changed the topic.

"Since we're talking about identities, it's only fair you know mine." He stood up offering his hand to Izuku in the form of a handshake, instead of to pick him up like usual. "My name is Hyousuke Sukeruton. I'm not a fan of titles so please, just call my Hyousuke."

Izuku took his hand, giving it a light shake before standing up himself. He wasn't used to people letting him use their first names, let alone when they had just met. The girl stood up too.

"I'm Ochaco Uraraka. I'm not a fan of the titles either but for now at least I'd still like to be called Uraraka, if that's okay."

That was more what Izuku was used to.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. As you know, I'm Izuku Midoriya. And before you ask, no, I'm not about to jump into the river again." His attempt at a joke was followed by a meek yet light-hearted chuckled, one that Hyousuke returned with an amused smile of his own while Ochaco only looked shocked at first that he'd joke about his own suicide attempt like that, though quickly gave a supportive smile of her own.

A much easier silence spread through them, one that was rudely interrupted by Present Mic's booming voice, reminding all students that the exam was indeed over and that they were to grab their stuff and leave before it got dark.

Saying goodbye to the two, Izuku jogged away towards the lockers, intent on getting home before his mum started to worry. He had a feeling he'd be seeing those two soon.

 **~0~0~**


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N.**

 **Now, to be clear (as someone brought this up) my little OC is not planned for a pairing, ever, nor is he intended to be a Gary Stue. I don't plan on making him an over-powered plot carrier or possible rival as the protagonist of this story. I just wanna fit this fun character and quirk idea into the world and see where it takes me. Don't worry, I'm not gonna shower him with screen-time. He's got his own goals and backstory, but this ain't his story.**

 **Alright, we clear? Cool. This is just a really short chapter intended to get this part out of the way. I feel if I write more in this chapter it'll detract from the "point" of the chapter.**

 **~0~0~**

"Izuku!" Inko's screams reached past Izuku's bedroom door with ease despite them coming from the front door to the house. Said front door was quickly slammed shut and the bedroom door was quickly thrown open.

"Izuku! Did you hear me?!"

"Yes mum," the boy replied with a slight smile, "I think the whole street heard you. What's got you so excited?"

A small letter was promptly shoved in his face, too close for him to actually make out any detail about the sender. Grasping it from his mother's fingers, Izuku held it away from his face, turning it so the light hit it just right. He immediately recognised the symbol planted on the stamp. U.A.

For a moment Izuku just stood there, rendered silent by the paper in his hand. Just a short moment, however. The contents would decide his future and there was no point hesitating if he were planned on seeing them at all.

His hand not holding the letter came to the top, tearing the paper down the middle. Almost immediately a small silver disc dropped from the opening, clattering to the floor and immediately lighting up.

"I am here... as a projection!"

Both mother and son were rendered dumbfounded and awestruck as the Symbol of Peace himself appeared before them on the small projection screen that emanated from the fallen disc.

"Now I know what you're thinking! All Might?! On a U.A. projection?! Well allow me to explain! From this coming year until the unforseeable future, I, the Symbol of Peace, will be attending U.A. as a teacher for the hero course! Excited yet?!"

A hand appeared by the side of the screen, holding a clipboard, followed by incoherent mumbling.

"Oh! That's a lot more left! I'll make this short then! Young Midoriya, on the test you scored an outstanding score of 47 villain points! I must say, even I am quite surprised at such a number! Your villain points alone have easily secured your place at U.A.'s hero course!"

Inko turned to her son with nothing but pride adorning her face, a wide infectious smile spreading that Izuku quickly returned before looking back at the projection, seeing a video playback of him and Hyousuke helping Ochaco out of the situation with the 0-pointer.

"But villain points weren't our only scoring system! A panel of judges, fellow teachers, kept a close eye on the tests and graded each student accordingly to their heroic deeds with the aptly named hero points! And let me tell you, not one teacher was left unimpressed in that room! Izuku Midoriya, one of two students of recieve the incredible 60 hero points, tied only with Hyousuke Sukeruton, unsurprisingly!"

"107 points?!" Inko suddenly cried out. Izuku's hand reached up to tangle itself in his hair, sheer bewilderment crossing his features. To say he did not expect to do quite that well would be an understatement.

"Haven't seen many scores like that since I applied for U.A. but you get to be one of them!"

All Might suddenly faces the camera directly. His trademark smile almost appears to waver.

"Young man. I have to cut this short, but before I do, there is something I must say. It was only a few months ago that I said some things I have come to greatly regret. Since that day I have done nothing but wish that I could speak to you once again... to apologise. How I spoke that day was not heroic in the slightest. When we next meet, there is a conversation I wish to have."

His smile grows brighter once again, his message delivered seeming to relieve a small burden from him.

"And that day will come very shortly! Welcome, Izuku Midoriya, to U.A.'s hero course!"

 **A.N.**

 **Well, I did say short, did I not?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N.**

 **Ready to get to U.A.? Well so am I! But not yet. Gotta have some unique scenes or this is just gonna be another copycat "if he had a quirk" story, which while a factor, isn't what's meant to drive this story like it seems to for others.**

 **I also realised after uploading the last chapter I could've added this to it as well but... oh well.**

 **~0~0~**

"Hyousuke!" The all too familiar sweet, bubbly and overly giggly voice that he was too used to hearing echoed once again through the short hall of their shared apartment into his room. Despite his closed door and excessive sound proofing layered on all of his walls, her voice came through with pure clarity.

With a slight grunt of frustration that was quickly overtaken by the smile she always managed to bring to his face, he pulled himself from his comfortable position on his bed, taking but a few strides across his small room to open the door. As expected, he was met with his chocolate haired housemate running full throttle down the short hallway to his room, who stopped suddenly upon seeing her target just ahead of her. Her eyes drifted downwards and Hyousuke was immediately reminded that he was without his shirt.

"My eyes are up here, Ochaco." His voice immediately brought said girl back to reality, a large blush immediately taking place on her face.

"I-I'm sorry!" she stammered, "I know I shouldn't... I mean, we're only friends, we can only be friends, but well... it's not really a crime, is it?" Her nervousness only made his smile grow wider.

"And here I was thinking you were falling for that Midoriya."

The girl before him squealed something along the lines of '"shut up" before shoving her head in her hands to hide her ever-growing blush. Deciding he had his fun, Hyousuke pressed on with the original topic that his body interrupted.

"So what's up? What's got you screaming my name down the hallways? Another cute dog video?" He already had a few guesses based off of the open envelope in Ochaco's hand.

She looked up, her grin returning despite the blush as she made a point on staring up at her roommate's face.

"We're in! We got accepted!"

"And did you expect anything else?" he laughed. "And you were worried you didn't have enough points."

"W-well... technically I didn't have enough points... but there were other factors! There were these things called Hero Points which a bunch of teachers gave to each-"

She began to explain how Hyousuke, having helped Izuku save her, had gotten the maximum number of Hero Points, tied only with the afforementioned green haired teen. Ochaco herself had been graded with just enough Hero Points to secure her a place in the hero course, though at the lower end of the class spectrum, due to a few of the times during the test where she had helped out other students, including Hyousuke at one point when his guard was lowered.

While she explained this Hyousuke had retreated into his room, keeping his ears on Ochaco but had his eyes preoccupied on finding himself a shirt. Seeing not one clean shirt in his wardrobe he shot a thin length of bone out from an unnoticeable opening in the skin of his arm, immediately wrapping it around the first shirt in his dirty clothes basket, likely the least dirty of them all, and pulling it towards him, the bone retracting back into his arm.

As Ochaco finished her speal on how they had passed and how they both had recieved their scores in one disc on account of them living together, Hyousuke stepped past her into their small living area, chuckling at the mess of blankets on the couch he assumed was from when she had run to the door.

"Well, Ochaco, I think this calls for celebration."

"Oh? And what are we gonna do?"

"Well, on the way home after the exam, don't think I didn't notice you drooling over the prospect of that new candy shop." He noticed her cute blush return and smiled his brotherly smile once again. "I looked it up and apparently it opened up just yesterday, so why don't we go check it out?"

He grinned at his housemate as her face lit up in a huge smile of her own. Tying his hair back into his usual ponytail he stepped outside, waiting as he watched Ochaco grab her phone and keys from the couch. He had his phone already on account of listening to music but the concept of keys seemed to slip his mind. Thank god one of them was prepared.

 **~0~0~**

"Come on Hyousuke! You're so slow!"

Contrary to her words, Hyousuke walked at a pace near double those around him, one earbud in with his usual metal playing. Still, Ochaco loved her sweets and wanted to get there as soon as possible, even if it meant taking off at a sprint and leaving behind the guy who suggested they go.

"You're so demanding, I swear. It's only just midday, we've got plenty of time."

Ochaco found herself beside her roommate once again, her usual bright smile replaced by an equally cute and mildly terrifying look that could only be described as a warning.

"Hyousuke. Sweets wait for nobody, and I'm not waiting for you."

"Calling yourself sweet, huh? Could've fooled me." Despite her warning glare he managed to stay calm, even amused, at her overbearing excitement over a couple of sweets. It only served to make the chocolate haired girl angrier.

She punched at her friend's forearm, weaker than she had intended. She reared back for a harder hit, but managed to catch the ruffling of the sleeve that indicated his 'armour' was in effect. She lowered her fist, knowing the only person hurt would be her. Hyousuke only gave another of his cocky laughs, speeding up his steps for his friend's sake.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence as the two weaved their way through the crowds, a certain store came into view, the rather large sign reading "candy" in both English and Japanese acting as the landmark of note for the taller of the two. The other's eyes, however, focused not on the sign, but on an equally out of place set of ruffled green hair.

"Hyousuke... is that... Midoriya?"

"Wow... I was only kidding earlier, but you really are thinking about him a lot, huh?"

"Hyousuke," she shouted, reaching high to grab his head, standing on the tips of her toes in order to properly angle his head in the right direction, "I'm being serious!"

"Oh..." he began, "I see. Let's go say hi."

"Wait what?"

 **~0~0~**

"I didn't know a new candy shop opened up." Izuku was baffled by the sheer quantity of everything that was the new shop. He thought the sign was a bit much for a sweet shop but upon entering the sign seemed to fit perfectly in.

The shop itself was deceptively simple; the left and back wall was lined with dispensors of a large assortment of treats and sweets. Many children and adults alike would go up to one with one of the provided bags (funnily enough more adults than kids had the large bags) and press the plunger, allowing the candy to drop out. A small notice was set up before the plungers, explaining how all small candy was the same price, the price based on the weight.

Looking up proved that there was more to the shop than at first seems. All the small candy was left on the first floor, with a staircase directly left of the entrance leading upwards to the second floor, one that could be easily seen through the glass flooring.

"Is that even safe?" Izuku wondered to himself.

The second floor was reserved for the larger types of candy, the ones that were sold as individual pieces in their own bag, seperate from the smaller lollies.

"They seem to run a complicated system here, but I guess it's working for them. This is certainly quite popular, even for a newly opened."

The clearing of someone's throat caught his attention. Despite not seeing who did it, he just knew it was directed at him. Turning towards the source of the noise he expected to see an employee. What he didn't expect to see were the brunettes he met during the exam.

"Suke-wait, no. Hyousuke? And Uraraka?

"What's up Midoriya?"

"H-Hi, Midoriya."

 **~0~0~**

The now trio took their time purchasing their own bags of sweets, Izuku noticing Ochaco having the largest bag of the three, before leaving the area and walking along the river that split the city in half, the gap between road and embankment barely big enough for all three to walk side by side.

"Well, after learning of my scores-"

"One hundred points!" Ochaco suddenly cut in, clearly in bewilderment and awe of the seemingly unimpressive boy. "You had the most points of anyone! That's amazing!"

Izuku smiled sheepishly at the praise, scratching the back of his head as he continued.

"Yeah... 107 points, and one of the two to get the maximum hero points." He locked eyes with Hyousuke, who grinned back. "After hearing about all that I figured I'd need some time to process it. It's just so hard to believe."

The trio arrived at a bridge, and just as the two brunettes were about to cross, Izuku spoke up again, his eyes glued to a particular spot on the bridge.

"I guess after a while it became nothing short of a dream. A hopeless dream for a hopeless hero wannabe. All I wanted was to be a hero, since I was just a little kid. But fate was not in my favour." His focus turned from the empty space on the birdge to his arm, to the scars beneath his sleeve that refused to fully heal. "After a while, I just got sick of it. The pain, the torment, it wasn't worth it anymore. A hero was something I could never be, so then I just..."

He trailed off, and immediately it clicked with Hyousuke just where they were. He was so focused on listening to the kid that he couldn't put the last few dots together. Izuku looked back to that particular spot on the bridge.

"So I left my stuff right there. My shoes... my jacket... my dreams. There was no forward left for me."

Clear tears fell from his eyes, unbelievably bright against the afternoon sun. Seemingly without a second of thought, Ochaco stepped over to the green haired boy, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he sank to his knees on the grass. The comforting arms around him opened the floodgates and he buried his head into her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist, holding on like his own sanity depended on the warmth.

Hyousuke kept standing the short distance, keeping watch over the two lest one fall asleep, content with letting them have their moment, with letting Izuku get his tears out. He looked out towards the bridge, to the spot where the boy had jumped.

 _I shouldn't have brought us out here. Yet again..._ He looked back to the boy, huddled close to his friend. _I think this is what he needed._

"Fate was always against me since my birth, but it's not letting me die yet."

"Fate's got plans for you."

A chuckle.

"Then let's seem them."

 **~0~0~**

 **So random thought; I can not wait for the planned future battles that will come. I won't spoil too much, but I will say Hyousuke, armour of bones, vs the stone bodied Kirishima! I am low-key excited for this.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N.**

 **Yes, I know I said my OC ain't stealing the focus. Yes, I know I immediately followed it up with some world building including the guy. Thing is though, he's not the only one who's gonna get this treatment, the other cast will as they get introduced. To the whole "he's not interested in Ochaco" thing, there's a lot more reason than just that, but I'm not about to just give a random info dump when it all gets explained later in the story anyway.**

 **I truly have no intention on him taking center stage, but if you find yourself unable to believe that and the idea of his existence is turning you away from the story, that's fine. You don't have to read if you don't want, but if you're willing to stick it out, he'll slip back a bit as more characters join the fray.**

 **Honestly, he's only really here because I felt like fucking about with a quirk idea. Just be glad I only replaced one guy. There are a lot of quirk ideas buzzing about around here.**

 **~0~0~**

"That... that's a big door..."

Said door was, in fact, quite large, near triple the height of the green haired student standing before it. Deciding not to dwell on the worrisome thought that he might share his class with someone of that size, he grasped at the handle, ready to pull the door aside. But then...

"So you made it in, huh Deku." A statement rather than a question as Katsuki entered Izuku's field of vision, just off to the side. "Proving yourself after all, huh?"

"I have nothing to prove to you, Bakugou."

The blonde gritted his teeth. Hearing the once quirkless refer to him as anything other than Kacchan felt... wrong.

"You can't just go and get a quirk and suddenly have nothing to prove, Deku. Your whole life you've been nothing but a personalised punching bag. You start punching back and there will be things to prove, whether you want to believe it or not."

The greenie laughed at that.

"You may be physically stronger, with a quirk that surpasses mine in raw power, but you still have so much to learn."

Without waiting for the blonde's retaliation he pulled on the door, sliding it open to a classroom half filled with people he could only assume his classmates. His eyes immediately latched on to Ochaco, seated near the back talking to a girl with long, dark green hair. He was surprised to not see Hyousuke.

Ignoring the beginning verbal onslaught of the classmate behind him he made his way over to the familiar face. Her face lit up when she saw him approach.

"Woah, hey, Midoriya!" Her smile seemed to be of relief, something that puzzled Izuku. "Geez, I was starting to wonder if you were also thrown in class B. I mean, I just met Tsu here which is great and all but I was kinda hoping to have at least one familiar face at the beginning of everything."

"So Hyousuke's in 1-B?" The brunette nodded. "I wonder why..."

The green haired girl, Tsu, spoke up. "Judging from what Uraraka-chan's told me, you two were at the top of the leaderboard, you taking first with the other guy taking second. I can only assume so that no one hero class is stronger than the other they split up the students, every second student going to 1-B. Although..." she trailed off briefly, looking around the room, "I don't actually know anyone else's scores so I can't validate this theory. I'm Tsuyu Asui, by the way. But call me Tsu."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Asu-I mean Tsu. I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh my! I see some bonding already!"

A booming voice caught the attention of the trio. Upon turning around Izuku saw the classroom filled up, each desk occupied by a student, except for the one before him. With a start he sat down, suddenly realising he was sat on the opposite side of the room to Katsuki, each against their own respective wall, much to his appreciation.

His attention turned back to the front of the class where he somehow just noticed the shiny golden hair and tall stature of All Might himself!

"Brilliant! If a class can get along this early on then you'll prove one tremendous team going forward!"

Whispers immediately spread through the room at the hero's bolsterous appearance.

"Holy crap! Is All Might our homeroom teacher?"

"I knew he was a teacher but a homeroom one?"

"I gotta call bullshit on this one."

Despite the copius amount of whispers and the many eyes on the smiling face, only one pair caught the attention of the hero. A young green haired boy around the back.

"Allow me to address some questions! First! I am unfortunately not your homeroom teacher! Your actual teacher, Aizawa, refused to leave his bed this morning so I'm here to take his place for today!" Hearing their teacher chose sleeping over teaching sent more whispers around the class. "Second! Call bull... well, you know? You're right to do so for the same reasons! Thirdly! What are we doing today? Some of you may be thinking about orientation like any good school, but, this is not just any school! Right off the bat we need to see what you're all capable of! So come! I have a list of exercises your homeroom teacher wanted to do! I will not threaten you with possible expulsion like he seemed adamant on writing in large letters at the bottom of the paper..."

"Um, sir?" A black hair student seated in the back row raised her hand. Izuku liked to think himself respectful to all women but even he couldn't help but momentarily stare at her chest, the school uniform hiding nothing. He quickly ripped his eyes upwards as she started talking. "Threatening with expulsion, is that allowed?"

"While I do not agree with it, yes, it unfortunately is! The world is a cruel and unfair place and your teacher wanted to ensure you all work your hardest in these tests! Of course, there won't not be punishment to last place! Last place gets to write..."

He trailed off, an almost sinister grin settling over his usual jovial smile. Almost every student visibly tensed at the possible punishment, none knowing the extent of All Might's thought process.

"One! Full length! Essay! On just how cool they think I am!"

If the class were any larger, the collective sigh of relief and slight disapproval would have shaken the building. Izuku decided he wouldn't have minded coming in last.

 **~0~0~**

"So, uh, All Might?" a student with bright blonde hair questioned. "What exercises are we going to be doing today?"

"What an appropriate question that I am about to answer!" All Might responded, raising a small device barely bigger than his thumb high into the air like a trophy. His other hand rose afterwards, a softball fitted in the palm of his hand. "What better way to tell you than to just show you?"

Without a second of wind up, the ball left on display in All Might's hand suddenly vanished, All Might's hand rising up mere moments after its dissapearance. Then the ground shook, cracked. The wind visibly retracted from the area surrounding All Might's hand, driving itself upwards and immediately downwards before expanding in all directions.

The front line of students were the first affected. Izuku barely dug his feet into the ground in time to brace against the sudden hurricane. A red haired student made an effort to crouch down, digging a strangely spiked hand right into the ground to hold himself in place. Ochaco, who happened to be standing next to Izuku, was not so lucky.

Without a moment to react the brunette was lifted off the ground, the force throwing her small body backwards at a tremendous force. Reacting on instinct and sudden adrenaline, Izuku grasped backwards, getting a firm grip on his friend's hand before pulling her back to him. Fighting against the windy onslaught, both arms came up either side of the girl, hands on her shoulders holding her steady.

The wind died down finally, and the entire class attempted to regain their breath from the sudden display of power.

And Izuku and Ochaco found their eyes locked with one another's, neither's expression readable to the other.

"Th-thanks... M-Midoriya..." she stuttered softly, her light blush taking on a darker shade.

"One thousand, four hundred and eighty two metres!" a small voice trilled, causing the two teens to immediately jump apart, lest anyone suddenly notice them off to the side.

"Probably could've actually tried... nah! That, dear students, is what you'll be doing! That and more, of course! You will each undergo the same set of exercises, using your quirks when you can to ensure the best possible results! This will help all of your teachers, including myself in our actual class, know in what direction to go to improve all of you! Midoriya!" The boy in question jumped. "You scored the highest out of anyone in that entrance exam not just for this year, but for the past ten at least! Let's see what you can pull off!"

 **~0~0~**

"This... is mildly terrifying."

Izuku found himself standing in the small crater formed from All Might's throw, the teacher in question now off to the side, the distance tracking device held slightly before him.

His large group of classmates all stared at him, the majority showing signs of curiosity as to what this meek-seaming kid was capable of. Katsuki's face stood out above the others, his typical anger exuding off of his body in waves.

Ochaco's face stood out above his, one of strong encouragement towards him. As their eyes met she gave a warm smile that managed to quell most of his anxieties of that moment.

 _Okay... so I gotta throw this as far as possible with my quirk. My quirk isn't instantly a physical one, there's a lot of "off-camera" work, but that won't work here. Just punching it repeatedly will mess with the trajectory a lot..._

"Ready when you are, Midoriya!" All Might's booming voice came crashing him back into consciousness. How long was he standing there?

"S-sorry, just lost in my own thoughts a bit. Thinking."

"For big missions, being able to come up with a plan is always a good thing," All Might began, "but what about the random encounters? A hero needs to be balanced in both their rigorous planning skills are their split second decisions! The more time spent thinking, the less time spent saving!"

"R-right!"

Izuku turned, his back now facing his class, his right arm slotting into place almost mechanically behind him, his other hand coming over to cover the ball.

He breathed. Slow. In. Out. Throw.

One foot fell forward, planting itself before him as his back arched, joining his arm in keeping the ball in position.

 _Breathe._

His eyes, closed in concentration until now, finally opened to the violet tinted world, his friend.

 _Throw._

The ball wouldn't move. It couldn't. Nothing and no one but Izuku could. That didn't mean he had no affect on the world outside of his own time.

He couldn't punch, so he pulled. His body shifted forward, all weight onto his front foot and his body low, every necessary muscle being pulled hard, harder than they usually would, but he wouldn't feel a thing.

The ball finally gave way, back in the world of time and colour, rocketing through the air faster than it had ever travelled from his hand before. The resulting blast, the shockwave that pushed back, lacked the same power that All Might provided. That didn't mean it failed to threaten the kid's body, the large gust immediately doing its best to knock his crouched body over.

"Four hundred and thirty seven metres!" the small device in All Might's hand chirped.

The class, silent for a moment, suddenly exploded into exclamations of shock and praise.

"Over four hundred metres! That's impressive!"

"Wouldn't have expected such a throw from that guy. I mean, no offence to him, but he's kinda... unimpressive."

"Oh, you should've seen him in the entrance exam. He swooped in at one point and stole, like, thirty... forty-something points, or something crazy like that, all in one go. Man! Still kinda salty back I gotta admit, whatever his quirk, it's something."

"That's fucking it?"

That last comment caught Izuku's attention, his crouched body rising and turning in one swift motion, his eyes locking with the blonde that uttered those words.

"Then I guess you're next, Bakugou."

"Fine by me! Allow me to show you why you're all just extras next to someone like me."

~0~0~

"O-o-over seven... hundred metres..." Ochaco frantically muttered.

"Perhaps I was a bit hasty in calling him out... in terms of raw power his quirk beats out I'd assume everyone but All Might here."

"So you two know each other already?" she questioned the green haired boy.

"Unfortunately..." Izuku muttered back. "We weren't exactly on good terms... ever."

"Did he, you know... the bridge...?" Her intention clear to Izuku, despite her obvious hesitation.

"He's not the only reason, but he's certainly a large part of it."

The topic of conversation made his way through the stunned crowd of his class, a large, cocky grin adorning his face. As he hit the crowd, however, his grin faded as he quickly stopped next to Izuku.

"I do have to admit. In practice, that's quite a useful quirk, but a good quirk doesn't suddenly make you a god, Deku."

"I guess I could offer you the same advice, Bakugou."

Rather than responding like his internal screaming begged for, Katsuki chose instead to quell his comeback, knowing full well Izuku was smarter than he gave him credit for. Whatever it was that changed inside the green head, it managed to give him a hell of a silver tongue, seemingly reserved just for him.

 **~0~0~**

The students, Izuku included, each completed the exercises set out for them. Izuku found himself doing best on the 100m dash, beating out the engine guy, who's entire thing seemed to be about speed, by a landslide, seemingly teleporting to the end of the dash track before the first second was up, setting a new school record that would likely never be beaten.

Not all the exercises worked in his favour, however. The sit ups (which he partnered with Ochaco to do), for example, required nothing but his own strength, something that he thankfully didn't lack, but he wasn't about to break any more records there.

Ultimately, Izuku found himself placed high on the final leaderboard, his quirkless performances keeping his score stable while his quirked exercises drastically increased the score. He couldn't help but notice Katsuki's name appearing directly above his, held aloft by only a few points. Izuku grinned.

"That can only last so long."

 **~0~0~**

"Well students, I must say, many of you have outdone yourselves here! Truly an impressive group we have here! I might have to put in a request to become your full time homeroom teacher! Haha! But alas, I am still your hero studies teacher, so unlike my colleagues, I will get to see you all at your best!" His usually wide grin dimmed slightly. "Now, Midoriya, I'd like you to stay behind for a second. As the highest scorer in the entrance exam, you will represent this class in UA events, such as the sports festival. There are a few responsibilities I'd like to go over with you about this. Best get it out of the way now, no?"

The bell rang, and everyone made to leave. Ochaco took the opportunity to talk to her teacher quickly.

"Sir, how long will Midoriya be held back?"

"Not long at all, young Uraraka! If you wish to wait for him I suggest doing so down at the front gates! I'll only be a few moments, don't worry!"

"Okay. I'll see you down there, Deku!"

"Did... did she just call me Deku?"

"So, young Midoriya," All Might began, the room now empty but the two, "I have an apo-"

"No you don't, All Might." Izuku's interruption certainly surprised All Might, who since hearing the news had felt nothing but deep regret for being the kid's final nail. "You couldn't have known about the lifelong bullying, the death threats, everything. Even now you're only just finding out, huh?" All Might nodded. "Then for what reason do you have to think that my... attempt... was your fault?"

"I guess you're right about that. I just... I can't not feel responsible. I'm the Symbol of Peace, and I can't even tell a fan the right thing."

"You told me the truth. No bullshit, just the cold hard truth. That was the right thing to say, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear."

"I see." All Might sat down. "And yet you do have a quirk."

"Only as of that night. I'm a bit lost too. Best to accept it and fight on."

All Might smiled again. "Like anyone else, you still have so much to learn! But that attitude! You may not accept my apology, but at least let me take back the things I said! Young Midoriya, you can be a hero!"

 **~0~0~**

Izuku's talk with All Might had left him a lot happier than he had even thought possible. Those last few words echoed through the back of his mind on loop as he jogged out of the building towards the front gates.

As he arrived he saw Ochaco sitting on her bag staring out into the sunset. The golden light shone almost directly onto her from Izuku's position, casting a long shadow out behind her, the shadow barely reaching Izuku. The light outlined her small body, and as her head turned slightly towards him he saw the fair skin of her face radiate a cheerful, yet peaceful, aura, accentuated by the dying sun. She looked...

"Beautiful..." he whispered.

Suddenly aware of someone staring at her, Ochaco turned her head fully behind her, casting her face in a light shadow as her eyes landed on Izuku.

"Oh, hey!" she called out, standing up.

"H-hey, Uraraka! Um..." He suddenly remembered the name she had used earlier. "If I may ask, did you call me Deku back there?"

"Oh yeah... sorry, I guess I should've asked first, but I heard Bakugou call you that and thought it sounded cool!"

"O-oh! Well okay then."

He was about to tell her the true connotations of being called Deku, but decided against it. If he didn't embrace the name now, how would he be able to later? He needed to conquer it before it came back to conquer him, and having someone he found himself feeling close to was willing to use it simply as a "cool nickname", then that may just be what he needed.

As the two headed off down the pathway in silence, Izuku suddenly felt a small piece of paper shoved into his hand. He looked at the chocolate haired girl beside him, then down at his hand in shock.

"I just wanted you to have this, Deku." Ochaco blushed, averting her face from his gaze. "If you ever wanted to talk, or hang out or something, don't be afraid to call."

Blushing a little bit himself though hiding it better than his counterpart, his quickly added the number into his phone. After reaching the train station they went their separate ways.

 **~0~0~**

 **Woo boy, lots of those hard cut time skip ~0~0~ things. I mean, I can't reiterate the whole story, okay?**

 **That's the first day of UA out of the way! Time to throw all my big plans into motion from here on out!**


	12. It's Over

So... to put it simply, I am discontinuing this story, for a few reasons. Feel free to read them out, or just ignore them and go about your merry day knowing this story died pretty quick.

 **Reason 1:**

Commitment is not something I am good with, especially for something that is simply just leisure. Keeping semi-regular updates to the story isn't easy, especially when I run primarily on spur of the moment ideas. One shot/very few chapter stories are where I belong, not in longer stories, as much as I'd like to exist in both.

 **Reason 2:**

This one may seem pretty obvious. My OC. There were plans for this guy. Not to become the protagonist or anything, I was serious about that. I did, however, have big plans for him, as I did for every other character.

As each character was to be introduced I was gonna give them a bit of screen time to familiarise them with the audience, because just expecting the readers to know the characters is a bad practice, even for fanfiction. Said screen time would lead to each character having a main goal to their character, some more impactful than others. Kirishima for instance, was gonna make him gay for this story and his whole thing was understanding that about himself, and Hyousuke (who's also gay, yes, that's why no date-o Ochaco) would more or less force Kirishima to wake up to himself about it and not be internally tortured like he was.

My approach to introducing this concept came in the form of that chapter focused around OC and best girl, and while I like to think I did a good job with the writing, the actual presentation in introducing the idea that this would be done for everyone... yea, didn't do that well.

 **Reason 3:**

I had plenty of scenes planned out, including a rather brutal fight scene between Hyousuke and Kirishima (because I can write real time fist fighting better than any supernatural bullshit) that would be the beginning of Kirishima's coming out arc.

What I didn't have, however, was an idea on how I was gonna end it, where, when, how it would stray. This led me to making some of it up as I was going along, and I shouldn't need to explain why that's bad.

Without an end goal in sight, the story just came out very directionless, and the more I write it the less I know how to end it.

There were also plans to deal properly with depression, as the intro showed off, but as I wrote away from it I couldn't find a way to write it back in... eh. It was gonna be a whole thing about Deku learning to let others back into his heart after Bakugou fucked his life up, starting with Ochaco worming her way in.

Basically, many reasons as to why I'm cutting this story off, summed up into three key points. Reckon I'm just gonna stick with the one shots I do so much better, rely on my spur of the moment mindset to guide my future endeavours. If you wanna see more from me, feel free to follow, but don't expect anything more from this story.

Okay, that's all out of the way. To the next whatever with me!


End file.
